Meaning of "To forge in the sanity of"

[cooliegirly]

What does "to forge in the sanity of soul the uncreated conscience of race" mean?

context is provided:

The hero must leave Ireland, leave the Church, to set off alone "to forge in the sanity of [his] soul the uncreated conscience of [his] race."

[Mister Micawber]

.
Joyce is not easy, cooliegirly; I hope you know what you're getting yourself into.

Your quote is the idealistic hope of the young writer, and is expressed with a rather naive valour:

to forge in the sanity of soul the uncreated conscience of race = to write (forge = make), through his own genius (sanity of the soul), the definitive expression of (Celtic Irish) humanity (the uncreated conscience of race).

I think you have a misprint/mistranslation, however. My edition reads:

...to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscious of my race.
.
_________________
Canadian-American native speaker
who teaches English for a living at Mister Micawber's
ESL cafe: Interview with Mister Micawber